HARMONIZING LUMBERING AND ESTHETICS 



301 



travel only on hewed-out trails. To a somewhat lesser 

 degree the same conditions are found in the Engelmann 

 spruce forests of the Rocky Mountains. Here, in many 

 places where the timber is very much over-ripe, great 

 numbers of the overmature trees have become decayed 

 and have fallen, mingling in a mass through which a horse 

 cannot go at all, and where a pedestrian's progress is only 

 a combination of crawling, squirming, and climbing. 

 Such forests are just 

 as scenic as any 

 other when viewed 

 from a distance, 

 for in a bird's-eye 

 view timber is just 

 timber; but to get 

 the true and great- 

 est enjoyment out 

 of the forests one 

 really must get into 

 them, not only on 

 travelled roads and 

 trails, but along the 

 byways where there 

 is nothing to guide 

 but one's inclina- 

 tion. To the writer 

 there is no outdoor 

 experience more en- 

 joyable than ramb- 

 ling about through 

 a stand of big trees 

 under which the 

 forest floor is a carpet of needles clear of fallen trees 

 and other evidences of decay. Those familiar with Western 

 yellow pine timber know what this condition is, and the 

 same is true, with of course far more impressiveness, of 

 many of the stands of big trees (Sequoia) in California. 

 If left to itself the forest will grow up and grow old, 

 have its youthful and old-age diseases, and become crip- 

 pled and infirm, just like a human being. At the outset 

 a young forest is made up of thrifty little trees, each 

 striving to grow into a big tree, and each fighting for its 

 share of light and moisture. There are usually more trees 

 on the ground than there is soil moisture for, and they are 

 so crowded that each one cannot get all the light it needs, 

 so the law of the survival of the fittest comes into play, 

 and the less sturdy members drop behind in growth, are 

 overtopped and starved for moisture, and eventually die 

 or become merely struggling stunted specimens. The 

 stronger trees continue to grow into a full stand, but 

 they are not immune from attack by disease and insects, 

 and many of them become the victims of fungus diseases, 

 mistletoe, and insects, which sometimes kill them, while 

 others are merely deformed. It is when the trees reach 

 maturity, when growth virtually stops, and become really 

 "old," that they are the most susceptible, either through 

 disease which has previously attacked them, or because 

 they have not the vigor of youth to combat attacks, and 

 large numbers of them develop spike tops or "staghead- 

 edness," where the top dies back several feet, or the top is 



broken off, or forked trees split and lose one fork, or other- 

 wise show some prominent sign of infirmity. If attacked 

 by insects the whole tree may die, standing for a few 

 years, and then falling down. The usual mature forests, 

 then, is made up of a mixture of thrifty and infirm trees. 

 Added to the crippled green trees are dead ones, both, 

 standing and fallen. 



Under the law which authorizes the sale of timber 



from the National 

 Forests, the pri- 

 mary object of a 

 sale must be to pre- 

 serve "the living 

 and growing timber 

 and promote the 

 younger growth." 

 The men who man- 

 age the National 

 Forests have 

 worked out plans 

 under which the 

 greatest benefit will 

 accrue to the stands 

 of timber through 

 judicious cuttings. 

 Before any living 

 tree is cut it must 

 be designated by a 

 Forest officer. The 

 officers who do the 

 marking go through 

 the stand, selecting 

 for cutting those trees which are mature or overmature, and 

 those immature ones which are in some respects defective 

 or which need to be removed to thin crowded groups so 

 that those left in the group may have room to grow and 

 develop properly. All the young and middle-aged trees 

 which are sound and thrifty are left, and they will greatly 

 increase in size and value before the next cuttings on that 

 area. After the cutting under these marking principles 

 the remaining stand is free of the "spike-tops" and other 

 cripples, and presents a thrifty appearance far more 

 pleasing to the eye of many than the "unbarbered" 

 stand. Furthermore and this is a vitally important 

 thing the removal of the diseased overmature trees has 

 eliminated a vast amount of fungus disease, and ma- 

 terially decreased the opportunity for infection of healthy 

 trees, so that the stand has not only been put in much 

 healthier condition, but it has much better chances 

 of remaining healthy. 



Under the marking system which has been outlined 

 the cutting is in every sense a moderate one. For example, 

 on a large tie sale in lodgepole pine timber on the Medi- 

 cine Bow National Forest in southern Wyoming a sample 

 area was marked to show the purchaser how the marking 

 principles would be applied. On the area covered by the 

 sample marking there were on the average 347 trees per 

 acre which were six inches and more in diameter four and 

 a half feet above the ground, and of these only fifty, or 

 less than 15 per cent, were marked for cutting, leaving 



SCENIC VALUE NOT TO BE DESTROYED 



Around lakes visited as recreation areas no cutting would be allowed in a strip of timber around the 



lake and deep enough to insure no detraction from the natural beauty of the place. 



